SaaS discovery is the process of identifying and cataloging all SaaS applications used within an organization, including both IT-approved and unmanaged shadow SaaS. SaaS discovery provides visibility into each SaaS application, allowing organizations to monitor its usage, assess security risks, and manage costs effectively. Organizations begin the SaaS discovery process by identifying their needs and evaluating their current environment to uncover all SaaS applications in use. This process provides visibility into SaaS sprawl, risks and compliance gaps, and highlights SaaS usage across different departments, emphasizing the importance of engaging multiple teams such as finance, HR, and management to ensure a comprehensive and accurate inventory. SaaS discovery offers enhanced visibility and control over SaaS applications, helping organizations effectively manage risks and maintain compliance.
Benefits of SaaS Discovery
Implementing a SaaS discovery solution provides organizations with:
Comprehensive SaaS Visibility
Gain insights into all SaaS applications, including sanctioned, unsanctioned, and third-party integrations. Achieve comprehensive visibility across remote and hybrid work environments to monitor SaaS usage on all devices and address blind spots in traditional network security.
Risk Reduction
Identify and mitigate security misconfigurations, excessive permissions, and orphaned accounts. Proactively discover SaaS usage to help prevent security breaches by identifying risks early.
Compliance Assurance
Ensure SaaS applications align with corporate security policies and regulatory requirements, ensuring compliance with security and privacy requirements.
Cost Optimization
Eliminate redundant or unused SaaS subscriptions to reduce unnecessary expenses. Organizations can save thousands of dollars by consolidating and optimizing their SaaS usage. Reducing the prevalence of shadow SaaS also leads to cost savings and improved security.
Single Source of Truth
Maintain a single source of up-to-date SaaS asset and security information, enabling all teams to rely on accurate data for decision-making.
SaaS Discovery Methods
SaaS discovery methods are vital for organizations aiming to detect SaaS usage across their entire environment and maintain a secure, efficient SaaS portfolio. There are several approaches organizations can use to gain a complete view of their SaaS activity. Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASBs) are a popular method, as they can detect SaaS usage both on-premises and in the cloud, providing centralized visibility into applications accessed by users. Single Sign-On (SSO) systems offer another effective approach, allowing organizations to monitor access to known applications through a single set of credentials, streamlining user management and discovery.
Browser extensions are increasingly used to monitor SaaS activity on personal devices, capturing real-time data on which applications are being accessed, regardless of location. API connectors provide seamless integration with vendors, enabling organizations to map SaaS usage directly from the source and obtain detailed insights into multiple applications. Since each method has its own strengths and limitations, organizations often combine several approaches to ensure comprehensive discovery and control over their SaaS environment. By leveraging these methods, organizations can better manage their SaaS portfolio, eliminate shadow IT, and maintain operational efficiency.
Choosing a SaaS Discovery Method
Selecting the right SaaS discovery method is a foundational step in achieving secure and efficient SaaS management. SaaS discovery offers organizations the ability to detect SaaS usage across their entire environment, providing comprehensive visibility into all applications—whether sanctioned or not. When choosing an approach, it’s important to align the method with your organization’s goals, the size and complexity of your SaaS portfolio, and the sensitivity of the data being accessed. For large organizations or those with a diverse SaaS environment, leveraging a Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) can deliver robust, centralized visibility and help secure sensitive data. Alternatively, browser extensions may be more suitable for organizations seeking real-time monitoring of SaaS activity on user devices. Each method has its strengths, so evaluating multiple approaches ensures you select the one that best supports operational efficiency and your organization’s unique needs. Ultimately, the right discovery method will help you maintain control over your SaaS environment and support your security and compliance objectives. Valence combines the strengths of these various SaaS discovery methods—such as those offered by CASBs, browser extensions, API connectors, and identity provider integrations—into a unified platform, delivering the most comprehensive SaaS discovery solution on the market. This integrated approach ensures organizations gain full visibility into both sanctioned and shadow SaaS applications, enabling effective risk management, cost optimization, and compliance assurance.
Implementing SaaS Discovery
Implementing SaaS discovery is a multi-step process that begins with setting up the chosen discovery tool and configuring it to align with your organization’s specific requirements. To achieve comprehensive discovery, it’s essential to map out all known applications, licenses, and vendors within your SaaS portfolio. Seamless integration with existing systems ensures that the discovery process does not disrupt ongoing operations and provides real-time visibility into SaaS activity. Gathering user feedback during implementation helps fine-tune the approach, ensuring that the discovery method meets organizational goals and adapts to evolving needs. By taking a centralized approach to SaaS discovery, organizations can gain a complete view of their SaaS environment, identify gaps or redundancies, and make informed decisions about which SaaS applications to retain, optimize, or retire.
Shadow SaaS Risks and Security Challenges
Organizations face significant security and compliance risks due to shadow SaaS, which consists of applications adopted outside of IT oversight. The prevalence of shadow SaaS applications within organizations increases the likelihood of data exposure, unauthorized access, and compliance violations, making it essential to address these risks. Common risks include:
Data Exposure: Sensitive corporate data may reside in unapproved SaaS applications with weak security controls
Unauthorized Access: Employees using unmanaged SaaS accounts can inadvertently create security gaps, leading to potential data breaches
Compliance Violations: Untracked SaaS usage can result in regulatory non-compliance with frameworks like GDPR, HIPAA, and SOC 2
SaaS-to-SaaS Integrations: Shadow SaaS often includes unsanctioned integrations that connect business-critical applications to external services, increasing the risk of third-party access abuse
SaaS Discovery Tools for Comprehensive Discovery
Organizations use various approaches to uncover and monitor SaaS applications. Each method has key features that address specific discovery challenges, and some approaches offer a longer-term solution to SaaS discovery. Discovering new SaaS applications is a critical way to maintain security and compliance. The SaaS discovery process starts with identifying usage and is expected to become more important as SaaS adoption grows. Tracking user activities within SaaS applications provides valuable insights into user behavior and app engagement, which is essential for effective SaaS discovery. Below is a comparison of different SaaS discovery methods, including their strengths and limitations.
| SaaS Discovery Method | Description | Strengths | Limitations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) | Serves as a proxy between users and applications. Works by analyzing network traffic and can quickly detect SaaS usage. CASBs are typically used to monitor and control access to SaaS services, helping enforce security policies. | Helps provide authorization status, i.e., sanctioned vs. unsanctioned. Identifies shadow SaaS, monitors data transmission. | May lack visibility into encrypted connections. Less effective for remote environments; complex deployment and maintenance. Fine tuning rules for complex networks can be challenging and time-consuming. |
| 3rd-Party SaaS-to-SaaS Apps | Discovers apps through integrations with sanctioned SaaS platforms (e.g., Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Salesforce, etc.) | Expands visibility by identifying third-party apps that connect to core business tools | Limited to applications that integrate with sanctioned SaaS |
| Integrations with IdP Apps | Captures SaaS logins via platforms like Okta and Entra AD. This method helps manage known applications integrated with an SSO system. Adding multi-factor authentication can further enhance security. | Provides visibility into sanctioned applications and adds context to the approval process for integrating new apps; centralizes authentication visibility | Only detects apps tied to identity providers; does not capture all shadow SaaS. |
| CASB Integrations | Uses CASB data to enhance SaaS discovery capabilities | Leverages existing security investments; without the need for CASB deployment | Does not detect all shadow SaaS |
| Email Scanning | Analyzes email content (e.g., welcome email, subscription authorization, invoices, notifications) to identify SaaS subscriptions and usage. Advanced solutions may use machine learning to identify new and unknown SaaS tools. This method can lead to the identification of unknown SaaS applications. | Detects shadow SaaS through financial and onboarding emails; does not require endpoint deployment | Privacy concerns; limited visibility into apps that do not generate email notifications |
| Browser Extension | Monitors SaaS usage via a browser plugin that must be installed on user devices. Deployment can be started with minimal effort. | Captures sanctioned and unsanctioned apps in real-time; has better context than proxy (CASBs), can be configured to block users; basically an agent, but not a complex deployment | Limited to browser-based interactions; different browsers are used by different users; does not track mobile or desktop apps. Browser plugins can be resource intensive compared to other methods. |
| Integrations with SaaS Management Platforms / Financial Apps | Uses spend data from financial systems or SaaS management tools to identify SaaS applications. This method helps discover SaaS applications through expense data and is a way to track SaaS spend and usage trends. | Provides insights into app purchases and usage trends; enhances cost optimization | Lacks visibility into actual user activity; best used in combination with other methods |
| API connectors | Connects directly to SaaS platforms to extract usage and configuration data. The setup can be simple or complex depending on the SaaS vendor and organizational requirements. | Provides granular visibility into SaaS usage and configuration | Requires API access and permissions; may not be available for all SaaS platforms |
Cost Management in SaaS Discovery
Effective cost management is a cornerstone of any successful SaaS discovery initiative. By conducting a comprehensive discovery process, organizations can identify all SaaS applications in use—including shadow SaaS that may have been purchased or set up without IT oversight. This approach allows organizations to determine which licenses are actively being used and which can be eliminated, leading to significant cost savings and improved operational efficiency.
SaaS discovery tools also enable organizations to gather user feedback on the quality and utility of different SaaS applications, helping to identify opportunities for optimization or replacement. By continuously monitoring applications in use and evaluating user needs, organizations can proactively manage their SaaS spend, streamline their SaaS portfolio, and ensure that resources are allocated effectively. Ultimately, a proactive approach to cost management not only reduces unnecessary expenses but also supports a more efficient and secure SaaS environment.
SaaS Discovery Success Metrics
Measuring the success of SaaS discovery efforts is essential for organizations seeking to secure their environment and optimize their SaaS portfolio. Key success metrics include the total number of discovered SaaS applications, the reduction in shadow SaaS, and the cost savings achieved through license optimization. Tracking user adoption rates and improvements in access management can also provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of the SaaS discovery process.
Real-time visibility into SaaS activity enables organizations to identify when users are accessing sensitive data or engaging with high-risk applications, allowing for timely intervention and enhanced security. By regularly reviewing these metrics, organizations can fine-tune their discovery process, ensure that all SaaS applications are secure, and make informed decisions about which tools to retain or retire. This data-driven approach helps organizations maintain control over their SaaS environment and continuously improve their security posture.
SaaS Visibility
To maximize the effectiveness of SaaS discovery, organizations should adopt a comprehensive approach that combines multiple discovery methods for greater accuracy and granular visibility. Start by integrating automated discovery tools with existing security systems to ensure real-time detection of both known SaaS applications and new, unauthorized apps as they emerge. Focus on logging and analyzing usage patterns to identify sensitive data exposure and eliminate shadow IT, while regularly reviewing key performance indicators to measure progress. Prioritize onboarding processes that restrict access to critical financial systems and credentials, and ensure that all discovered applications meet security standards and compliance requirements. Ongoing monitoring, rather than treating discovery as a one-time task, helps manage the sheer volume of cloud applications and provides detailed insights for resource allocation and cost savings. By creating a holistic view of your software environment and aligning discovery efforts with business goals, you can effectively mitigate security risks and support secure SaaS adoption.
Remote Work Considerations
The rise of remote work has introduced new challenges for SaaS discovery, as employees increasingly access SaaS applications from personal devices and distributed locations. To address these challenges, organizations need discovery tools that provide real-time visibility into SaaS activity, regardless of where users are located or which devices they are using. Browser extensions can be deployed to monitor SaaS usage on personal devices, while CASBs can detect SaaS activity in cloud environments and on-premises, ensuring that security teams have a complete view of all applications in use.
Setting up notifications and alerts for suspicious or unauthorized activity is another important step, allowing organizations to respond quickly to potential security threats. Seamless integration with vendors and existing security systems further enhances operational efficiency, making it easier to manage SaaS applications across both remote and premises-based environments. By proactively addressing remote work considerations, organizations can reduce security risks, maintain centralized visibility, and ensure that their SaaS environment remains secure and efficient, no matter where their users are located.
Common Mistakes in SaaS Discovery
Many organizations encounter pitfalls during the SaaS discovery process that can undermine its effectiveness. One common mistake is failing to evaluate multiple approaches or methods, which can result in incomplete discovery and missed applications. Another frequent error is not involving key stakeholders from different departments and vendors, leading to a lack of buy-in and incomplete data. Overlooking the importance of seamless integration with existing tools, such as Single Sign-On (SSO) systems, can also hinder the process and reduce operational efficiency. Additionally, neglecting to fine-tune the discovery method for the unique needs of each department can lead to inaccurate results. By carefully evaluating and refining the SaaS discovery process, organizations can avoid these mistakes and ensure a more accurate and actionable understanding of their SaaS environment.
Best Practices for SaaS Discovery
To maximize the value of SaaS discovery, organizations should follow a set of best practices. Start by clearly defining your goals and objectives for the discovery process, ensuring alignment with broader business strategies. Evaluate multiple approaches to discovery, considering the prevalence of cloud applications and the risk of shadow IT within your environment. Involve stakeholders from across the organization to ensure a complete view of all SaaS applications in use, including licenses and vendors. Prioritize comprehensive visibility, making sure that your discovery process captures every application—sanctioned or unsanctioned—across all departments. Regularly review and update your SaaS portfolio to reflect changes in usage and business needs. Additionally, it is crucial to ensure your organization receives the most comprehensive and accurate visibility. Choosing a comprehensive platform like Valence provides actionable insights that will help you effectively manage SaaS sprawl, reduce risks, and optimize costs. By adhering to these best practices, organizations can achieve a more secure, efficient, and strategically managed SaaS environment.
Integration with Existing Tools
Integrating SaaS discovery with your existing tools is essential for streamlining SaaS management and enhancing operational efficiency. By connecting discovery solutions with SSO systems like Microsoft Azure Active Directory, organizations can ensure secure and seamless access to SaaS applications while maintaining centralized control. Integration with other security tools, such as firewalls and intrusion detection systems, further strengthens the security posture of your SaaS environment and enables rapid response to security breaches. This approach not only eliminates manual errors but also improves efficiency by automating the discovery and management of SaaS applications. Ultimately, integrating SaaS discovery with your current technology stack ensures that your organization can quickly identify and address risks, maintain compliance, and optimize the use of SaaS resources.
Future of SaaS Discovery
The future of SaaS discovery is poised for significant innovation, driven by the rise of remote work, the increasing prevalence of cloud applications, and the need for comprehensive visibility across diverse environments. As organizations continue to adopt more SaaS solutions and users access applications from personal devices and remote locations, advanced methods will be required to detect SaaS usage wherever it occurs. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are expected to play a larger role, enabling more efficient and accurate discovery processes that adapt to evolving threats and usage patterns. Organizations will need to embrace these new approaches to maintain efficiency and security, ensuring that their SaaS discovery methods keep pace with the dynamic nature of the modern SaaS environment. By staying ahead of these trends, businesses can achieve real-time, comprehensive visibility and maintain control over their expanding SaaS portfolios.
Finding the Right SaaS Discovery Platform
Several vendors specialize in providing SaaS discovery solutions that help organizations gain complete visibility into their SaaS environments, uncover shadow SaaS, and manage associated risks. These vendors offer a range of capabilities tailored to different organizational needs, including automated discovery, risk assessment, and integration with existing security and identity systems. Depending on the organization's requirements and integration needs, the effectiveness and suitability of each vendor can vary.
Valence offers comprehensive SaaS discovery that identifies both sanctioned and unsanctioned applications, including shadow AI tools. Their platform provides actionable insights for risk identification, remediation, and governance, enabling organizations to secure their SaaS ecosystem effectively. A simple setup process allows for quick deployment and easy integration with existing systems, making onboarding straightforward.
Selecting the right SaaS discovery vendor depends on factors such as organizational size, security requirements, deployment preferences, and integration capabilities. A simple setup is especially important for organizations seeking fast implementation and minimal configuration. Combining multiple vendor solutions or features can help organizations achieve comprehensive SaaS visibility and control, ensuring effective management of SaaS sprawl and security risks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is SaaS discovery important for security teams?
SaaS discovery helps security teams gain visibility into unauthorized applications, reducing the risk of data breaches, compliance violations, and excessive access permissions.
How does shadow SaaS impact an organization's security?
Shadow SaaS introduces risks such as unapproved third-party integrations, data leakage, and unmanaged user access, which can compromise an organization's security posture.
What is the difference between sanctioned and unsanctioned SaaS?
Sanctioned SaaS is approved and managed by IT, while unsanctioned SaaS (shadow SaaS) is adopted without IT oversight, often leading to security and compliance risks.
How can organizations detect shadow SaaS?
Organizations can use network monitoring, IdP logs, expense tracking, and API-based SaaS discovery tools like Valence Security to identify shadow SaaS applications.
What steps should an organization take after discovering shadow SaaS?
Organizations should assess security risks, revoke unnecessary access, enforce SaaS security policies, and educate employees on secure SaaS adoption practices.
How Valence Helps with SaaS Discovery
Valence provides security teams with full visibility into both sanctioned and unsanctioned SaaS applications, helping organizations reduce shadow IT risks, enforce security policies, and optimize SaaS management.
As SaaS adoption accelerates, individual users and teams frequently integrate new applications without IT oversight, leading to unmanaged identities, security gaps, and compliance risks. Shadow AI tools, such as unapproved GenAI applications, introduce additional concerns by requiring broad data access. Valence enables security teams to proactively discover these risks and acts on SaaS discovery data by taking immediate action to secure and manage their SaaS environment.
Key Capabilities include:
- Comprehensive SaaS Inventory: Discover and create an inventory of all SaaS applications in use, including shadow IT, shadow AI, and unauthorized integrations
- Risk Identification and Remediation: Detect non-SSO accounts, inactive accounts, unmanaged third-party integrations, and weak security configurations
- SaaS-to-SaaS and Identity-Based Discovery: Gain visibility into applications connected via third-party integrations, as well as those linked to identity providers (IdPs) like Okta and Entra ID
- Actionable Security and Governance Controls: Secure your SaaS ecosystem by eliminating risky apps, enforcing MFA, and managing SaaS sprawl.
Valence's SaaS discovery capabilities empower organizations to take control of their SaaS environment, mitigating risks while enabling secure and efficient SaaS adoption.
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